Don't let go -Sarah Grimes Book 1-
by Biyu99
Summary: Sarah is a strong, independant 18 year old. She had thought about every possibility for her future, but the only thing that she didn't plan was a zombie apocalypse. Now, after a few months, she has finally settled back to some kind of a new life. She is finally happy. But now, with her dad back, all hell break's loose in this post apocalyptic world *Really bad summary sorry*
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Dad

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I was sitting on a log, carving a piece of wood the shape of an arrow. My mom was next to me cutting my brother's hair while Shane was across from us cleaning his weapon. He was not so discretely glancing at my mom every now and then but she didn't seem to notice. She was too busy trying to keep Carl still so that she could do her job but he just kept on moving around.

"Baby, the more you fidget, the longer it takes. So don't, okay?" my mom said

"I'm trying."

"Well, try harder."

"If you think this is bad, wait till you start shaving. That stings. That day comes, you'll be wishing for one of your mama's haircuts." Shane pitched in chuckling

"I'll believe that when I see it" Carl answered

"Carl, buddy, you are way too young to talk like that. You talk like a teenager" I laughed

"Oh you mean like you always do?" he told me before sticking his tongue out. I did the same which made him, my mom and Shane, laugh.

"I'll tell you what… you just get through this with some manly dignity and tomorrow I'll teach you something special. I will teach you to catch frogs." Shane proposed to my little brother

"I've caught a frog before."

"I said frogs… plural. And it is an art, my friend. It is not to be taken lightly. There are ways and means. Few people know about it. I'm willing to share my secrets."

Carl snapped his head in my mom's direction with an excited grin.

"Oh, I'm a girl. You talk to him." She said before turning his head back so she could try to cut her hair.

"It's a one-time offer, bud... not to be repeated."

"Why do we need frogs, plural?"

"You ever eat frog legs?"

"Eww!" Carl protested.

"No, yum!" Shane said.

"No, he's right. Eww." My mom was clearly disgusted

"I don't know mom I mean the French eat it all the time. I've heard it's pretty good. And come on do you want to spend the next few months eating some poor squirrels?"

"Well I know I'm not French so… Eww" I laughed at my mom. That's when Carol made her way to me.

"Hey Sarah, do you think you could help me go and get some of the stuff near the lake?" she asked sweetly. I nodded and followed her out of the camp to the lake.

We walked for a few before she started to talk.

"Hey, you know I think it's great that you're helping Carl with school work. Making sure he still gets an education even with all of this" she said still looking ahead.

"Yeah… I mean, it's not that much I'm just trying to remember stuff from school and I just him to still get some normal in his life you know? Making sure he doesn't have to grow up to fast." I shrugged

"Your mom said that you were really smart. Like genius smart?"

"Um yeah…. I mean that doesn't mean I know everything" I was a bit embarrassed. This was definitively a subject that I didn't like but my mom was always so proud of that. Her daughter, the genius, the girl who passed her PSAT's two years in advance but kept on going to high school anyway, the girl with a 175 IQ. That was me. But I never thought much about it and didn't like people to know. Because when they know, they look at you differently.

"I'm sorry, I thought that it was okay because your mom talked about it the other day, I shouldn't have…."

"Carol, you don't need to apologize it's fine" I chuckled "You know, if Sophia want to I can always teach her some stuff too. What's the difference between one or two kids right?"

She turned around with a smile

"Thank you so much that would be amazing. I want my little girl to grow up in a somewhat normal way" I squeezed her shoulder before walking past her to the lake. It didn't take too long and the simple chats we had about our old lives was helping us getting through the long walk without getting bored. Half an hour later, we were back at the camp with what we needed. Carol went to put the things away and I was greeted by Glenn who had the biggest smile on his face.

"Hey" I chuckled "When did you get back?"

"A few minutes ago. But that doesn't matter. You gotta see this"

I was intrigued so I followed him to the RV were everybody was standing.

"What's going on guys?" I asked suspiciously. That's when I saw him. My eyes went wide at the sight. "Dad?" I whispered. He wasn't looking at me but Carl was. He tugged on his sleeve before pointing towards me. My dad turned his head slowly and saw me. Just like that, it was as if the world stopped. A tear fell down my face as my dad looked at me.

"Dad!" I said louder this time before running to his arms. He caught me easily and held me tightly in his arms. And just like that, a sobbed racked through my body and I started crying

"Shh." My dad said "It's okay sweetie. I've got you. I'm here baby. I'm okay" he soothed me. He took a step back and held my face in his hands looking at me. The tears had stopped and I was now just left smiling when Carl decided to come hug my legs.

"I told you dad would be back" he said.

"Yeah you did" I grinned and ruffled his head.

"Hat to break a sweet moment like that but could we talk about what we're going to say when Daryl gets back?" Andrea asked

"Why? What happened?" I said "Where is Merle?"

"That's um… Complicated?"

"Complicated how?"

"We handcuffed him to a roof and dropped the key so we left him there before the geeks could get us" Glenn said looking down and scratching his neck.

"You did what know? Dude Daryl's gonna throw a fit…."

"Yeah well we thought maybe you could… You know break this to him? You know he won't start throwing punches if you're the one to say it" T-Dog told me.

"Why's that?" dad asked confused. I didn't bother to answer him. This was definitely not the time.

"Well I'm sorry T-Dog but I'm not helping on this one. I can stay there if you want but I'm not telling him. That's not my place" He looked at me with pleading eyes but I just stared at him until he sighed

"Alright we'll do it" I nodded before making my way to my tent and took out my notebook and a pen.

 _ **A/N :** FIIIIIRST CHAPTER ! YAY ! Daryl is coming in the next chapter so be ready ;-) Sarah's way younger than him but who cares ? They are already dating but I'll introduce the details of how they started throughout the story. Comment, Review and stuff. Love xx_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: I wasn't asking

Later that night, we were all sitting around the fire. Carl was lying on both my mom and dad while dad was running his fingers through his hair. I sat on his left with my head on his shoulder. I wasn't going to leave my dad anytime soon. I was so happy he was back. Everybody was listening to what he was saying

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion… all those things but… Disoriented comes closest. I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever."

"Mom said you died." Carl said in a small voice

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it."

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened." Mom sadly told him

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell. And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?"

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it." My dad finally said taking my hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. I looked over at Shane and I could see he was a bit disappointed that my dad was here. I was a bit mad at him. He was the one who convinced my mom that dad was dead and that we had to leave without him. The rest of the night was spent chatting, my dad got to know a few other people and they decided how they would announce Merle's disappearance to Daryl. I still refused to be the one to tell him so they agreed that my dad would do it. Soon enough, we all went to bed. I didn't want to spend the night alone in a tent so I decided to go sleep with my brother. When I got to his tent, he wasn't there but my dad was sitting there.

"You're going to bed?" he asked. I nodded before sitting on my bed. I lied down and watched as my dad got closer and started to stroke my hair.

"I love you Sarah" he said before pressing a kiss on my forehead.

"I love you too dad" I answered before I fell asleep.

The next morning, I was helping Carl and Sophia with math exercises when my dad got out of his tent. I smiled at him when he saw me and he did the same before joining my mom to talk to her. When I had decided that they had done a good job, I let them get a break and they went to walk around. I stayed back, writing some things in my notebook when we heard screaming. I could hear Carl calling for my mom and everybody went running to where the sound came from. On the ground was a deer and a walker was eating from its neck. My mom grabbed Carl and Carol grabbed Sophia before dragging them back to camp. The walker turned around and most guys stated hitting it until Dale cut its head off with an axe. We heard rustling in a bush nearby and everybody started aiming there. Daryl got out of the forest, looking at the deer.

"Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this… filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" he said while kicking the deer repeatedly.

"Calm down son that's not helping" Dale tried to say

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to on golden pond?"

"Well, good mornin' to you too sunshine" I muttered, loud enough for him to hear. He looked up at me while I gave him a smile. He looked at me, annoyed that I had called him that but his eyes showed that he wasn't really mad. He didn't chose to answer.

"I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

"I would not risk that." Shane answered. This made Daryl sigh.

"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel… about a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

Suddenly, the walker's head started moving and he was snapping his teeth. Amy was so disgusted that after muttering a small "Gross" she turned away and left, Andrea trailing behind her.

"Come on people what the hell" Daryl said "Always aim for the brain" With that, he shot an arrow through the walkers head and headed to the camp. I walked a little faster to catch up with him.

"You were out all night" I remarked

"Yeah, wanted to get enough for everybody" he shrugged "Why you were worried?" he said teasingly

"Me? No. I was just wondering if I was going to have to get food myself" I teased back. He looked at me with a smirk that was rare for him. I was just glad I was the one he gave those smirks to. We got to the camp and Daryl started to call out for Merle. Shane walked a little faster to catch up to him.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About Merle. There was a… There was a problem in Atlanta."

"He dead?"

"We're not sure."

"He either is or he ain't!" he was getting mad. I looked at them, waiting to see what was going to happen. That's when my dad stepped up.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it."

"Who are you?"

"Rick grimes." Daryl looked at me for a second. Recognizing the name. I nodded at him.

"Rick grimes, you got something you want to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

"Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!"

When my dad nodded, that's when everything went bad. Daryl threw the squirrels at him and went to hit him but my dad shoved him back. They started to fight and it when so quickly that I barely noticed the knife until T-Dog mentioned it. I stepped forward, trying to calm them down but my mom grabbed my arm keeping me back. Shane took Daryl in a chokehold but he didn't want to stop moving. He was trying to get out. My dad crouched in front of him trying to convince him to calm down so they could talk. Reluctantly, Daryl stopped moving and Shane let him go.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." My dad explained

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it." T-Dog defended

"You couldn't pick it up?"

"Well, I dropped it in a drain."

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof… So the geeks couldn't get at him… With a padlock. It's gotta count for something."

"Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so that I can go get him." Daryl said before leaving. I followed him to the side of the camp where nobody could hear us. I guess he heard me because he turned around quickly with a not-so-happy glare.

"I come in peace" I said quietly, raising my hands in surrender. He took a deep breath, not answering but his eyes were softer "I'm really sorry…. I'm sure he's okay, I mean it's Merle we're talking about. He's one of the toughest guy I know. I'm sure he's okay." He simply grunted as an answer. I sighed before walking back to camp to help cook the squirrels. Daryl looked at me before following. Once I grabbed a squirrel, my nose scrunched up. I was ready to take care of it, making sure we had food. Suddenly, someone took it from my hands.

"You an' I know you don't like skinnin' food" Daryl said before taking his knife out. I smiled gratefully and sat down next to him. My thoughts were interrupted by Shane walking behind my dad talking to him.

"Well, look, I… I don't, okay, Rick? So could you just… Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Daryl:

"Hey, choose your words more carefully." Daryl protested standing up. I did the same, getting closer to listen to what they were saying.

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant. Merle Dixon…The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." Shane shook his head

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst… me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" my mom asked. My dad then turned around to look at Glenn who didn't look so pleased.

"You know the way. You've been there before… In and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask… I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too."

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?"

"Four." T-Dog pitched in which made Daryl huff.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?"

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?"

"I'm coming too" I said. Everybody looked at me before my mom, my dad, Shane and Daryl let out a loud 'No'. I raised my eyebrows at them and looked at them "I wasn't asking" I deadpanned before making my way to my tent to grab stuff I could need for this ride. Carl walked up to me and hugged my legs.

"Please don't go"

"Don't worry bud, I'll be fine." I smiled

"But why would you go? You don't think they can do it?"

"It's not that Carl" I sighed before crouching in front of him "I'm just tired of being weak. I want people to see that I'm not and walking around in camp isn't gonna help me" he nodded before giving me another hug. We were separated when a loud honk was heard followed by Daryl calling out

"Come on! Let's go!" I rolled my eyes

"See you later buddy I promise" I smiled turning away to get to the truck. I sat down in the trunk next to Daryl. He was glaring at T-Dog. My dad looked at me before sighing

"You're sure you're coming Sarah?"

"I am" I said determined. He muttered an 'alright' before starting the truck. It was going to be a long ride

 **A/N:** Chapter 2! Yay! Please let me know what you think! xx


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Molotov cocktail

We got to Atlanta pretty quickly. We stopped at a fence and Glenn told us we would walk from there. But now, we had to decide whether we should get Merle or the guns first. Of course, Daryl didn't let Glenn answer before getting mad, saying that there wasn't a discussion necessary, that Merle was our top priority.

"Glenn, you know the geography. It's your call." My dad said

"Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first."

We nodded and started to walk towards the building where Glenn said they had cuffed Merle. On the first floor was a department store, everything was a mess and most stuff was gone by now. Daryl went in first, his crossbow up. A single walker was limping around and with a single arrow, he shot it down.

"You are one ugly skank" he said before pulling his arrow out of the walker's head. We made our way quickly to the roof to see the door that was supposed to be locked, ajar. Daryl started to walk faster and I was right behind him, the others following. We all called out to Merle, looking around until we saw it.

The handcuff was still there, hanging from the pipe, blood dripping down from it. On the floor, not too far from it was a hand. Merle's. We were shocked. I froze in place before covering my mouth with my hand. I was both shocked and grossed out. The hand saw next to the hand was covered in blood too. Daryl started yelling 'No' again and again sobbing. That woke me up from my daze and I walked to him, putting my hand on his shoulder giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Suddenly, Daryl turned around with his crossbow in hand and aimed at T-Dog. My dad was quick to react and drew out his gun to put it on Daryl's temple.

"I won't hesitate" my dad said "I don't care if it draws out every walker in town."

"That's enough both of you" I said glaring at them before making them lower their guns. Daryl looked at me before lowering his weapon and walking towards the hand. He asked T-Dog for a rag and picked up Merle's hand with it before putting it in Glenn's bag.

"Guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs. Ain't that a bitch" he said. I got closer too to look at everything.

"There's not that much blood." I said "He must've used a garrote to stop the bleeding. Probably his belt or something…"

"But there's still a trail" Daryl completed looking at me "Come on, we'll follow it" and with that, we stood up and followed the blood. T-Dog picked up the tool box before following too.

The next room looked like an office. We were all looking out for walkers but the only one there were the two dead on the floor.

"Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches. One handed. Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails." Daryl commented before keeping on walking. I rolled my eyes still keeping an eye out for walkers and followed.

Daryl still called out for his brother and he didn't care if the whole building.

"We're not alone here. Remember?" my dad whispered harshly.

"Screw that. He could be bleeding out." Daryl answered before walking to the other room. It was some kind of kitchen. I pushed my way on front on Daryl when I noticed that the stove was lit and that a belt was sitting on top of it. The blood trail stopped there and there was an iron plaque with burned skin on it.

"What's that burned stuff?" Daryl asked

"Skin" I answered quietly "Burned skin. He cauterized the wound himself. Made sure he wouldn't bleed out" Daryl chuckled quietly

"Told ya he was tough. That's my brother, tough guy. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle"

"That doesn't make sense. He must've still lost a lot of blood and I don't think he was in any shape for defending himself. So why did he leave?" I asked pointing at the smashed window.

"He left the building?" Glenn asked

"Why wouldn't he? He's out there alone as far as he knows, doing what he's got to do. Surviving." Daryl answered

"You call that surviving? Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out? What are his odds out there?" T-Dog protested.

"No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks. You couldn't kill him. Ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard."

"What about 1,000 dead dumb bastards? Different story?" my dad deadpanned.

"Why don't you take a tally? Do what you want. I'm gonna go get him." My dad put his hand on his arm, trying to stop him but Daryl shrugged him off with a glare. But my dad didn't move.

"I don't blame you. He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine." Dad said looking at me "I know exactly how you feel. He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head."

"I could do that."

"Good" I said "Now back to business. We still got those guns to worry about. And I ain't going in those streets surrounded by walkers without a good plan."

With that, Glenn started talking about his plan, how he would get the guns himself.

"You're not doing this alone." My dad objected.

"Even I think it's a bad idea and I don't even like you much." Daryl agreed. I rolled my eyes but I had to disagree.

"It's a good idea" I said "you just hear him out." I motioned to Glenn to keep on explaining.

"If we go out there in a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast. He draws a map of the street on the ground and marks the tank and the bag of guns." He said drawing a map on the floor. "Look. That's the tank, five blocks from where we are now. That's the bag of guns. Here's the alley I dragged you into when we first met. That's where Daryl, Sarah and I will go."

"Why me?" said man asked

"Your crossbow is quieter than a gun. While Daryl waits here in the alley, I run up the street, grab the bag. Thing is, I don't think there's enough arrows to cover me. We need something else, something quiet but that works fast and well." I looked around before noticing a janitor's closet

"I think I got something" I said.

"What?" my dad asked.

"Self-igniting Molotov cocktail."

"Say what now?" T-Dog asked. All four men were looking at me.

"See the janitor's closest behind me? If we have the right chemicals, I can make it. It's like a bomb. Throw it at them, it catches itself on fire and we make the walkers nice and toasty" I explained with a smile.

"Damn woman, you're good" Daryl said to me. I looked up and winked which made him jokingly scoff.

"How do you know how to make that?" T-Dog asked.

"It's just chemistry" I shrugged.

"Alright Sarah, you search for that. It would actually be really helpful" Glenn said so I made my way to the closet to get what I needed."

"Okay what about us? You got us elsewhere?" my dad asked.

"You and T-Dog, right. You'll be in this alley here"

"Two blocks away? Why?"

"I may not be able to come back the same way. Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Daryl. I'll go forward instead, all the way around to that alley where you guys are. Whichever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards, we'll all meet back here." Glenn told them when I came back with all the stuff.

"Hey, kid" Daryl called "What'd you do before all this?"

"Delivered pizzas. Why?" I laughed at his answer.

"Because you're a tactical genius. This plan is great" I told him.

"Thanks" he said "how long 'til you're done?"

"Few minutes tops"

Everybody kept going over the plan except for Daryl who just stood across from me, looking at me while chewing on the nail on his thumb.

"You're staring" I stated not looking away from what I was doing

"Maybe that's because you're worth staring at" he answered quietly making sure the others couldn't hear.

"Oh my, was that a compliment Mr Dixon? Didn't peg you for a charmer" I teased

"Shut up" he said blushing. I continued in silence, Daryl still watching intently. "So how did you say you learned that? Pretty sure your teacher didn't teach you."

"Well, no. But like I said, it's chemistry and in chemistry, when you mix certain chemical, you get a reaction. You just need to know which ones are the right ones" he nodded. "I'm done" I called out.

"Alright, let's to this" my dad said before we all got into position.

We climbed off the ladder on the side of the building to get to the alley. Daryl loaded his crossbow while I gripped on the cocktail ready to throw it.

"You got some balls for a Chinaman." Daryl said.

"I'm Korean." Glenn answered sighing. He took the cocktail from my hand and threw it at a group of walkers making them catch on fire.

"It worked" Glenn said while the three of us were laughing.

"Why do you seem so surprised? I told you it would work didn't I?" he nodded and started walking down the street towards the bag. The commotion made by the small fire attracted other walkers which made a great distraction for Glenn. Daryl took his crossbow and aimed at the walkers to cover Glenn. We were both so focused on the walkers that we almost didn't see the guy walking down the alley. But Daryl did and aimed at the guy.

"Whoa, don't shoot me! What do you want?" the guy said with a thick Hispanic accent.

"I'm looking for my brother. He's hurt real bad. You seen him?" but the guy didn't answer. Instead, he started screaming.

"Ayúdame!" (Help me)

"Shut up! You're gonna bring the geeks down on us. Answer me."

The guy kept on calling out when two other guys came down the alley and started beating Daryl up. One of them caught me in a chokehold, keeping me from helping. Glenn got to us with the bag and my dad's sheriff hat and the guy that was hitting Daryl tried to take it. The one holding me shoved me to the ground and I had trouble catching my breath. Instead, he grabbed Glenn and kept him hostage. Daryl shot an arrow that hit the first guy's butt and he screamed out in pain. Glenn tried to get out but he couldn't. The guys dragged him to a car and left leaving their friend and the bag behind. Daryl tried to run after them but soon realized that the fire had died down and that the walkers were coming towards us. He closed the door and noticed that I was still on the ground coughing.

"You okay?" he asked kneeling in front of me. I nodded before pointing at the guy they had left behind. Daryl caught him by the collar and started to threaten him.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Stop it." My dad arrived with T-Dog running.

"They took Glenn. That little bastard and his little bastard homie friends. I'm gonna stomp your ass!" Daryl threaten. I put my hand on his arm to calm him down.

"Come on let's go inside we'll talk there." I said "We'll make him talk and we'll find Glenn"

My dad took the bag and put his hat on before we got back inside the lab, Daryl dragging the kid with the three of us following.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Abuela

We were back inside and we had the kid sat down while my dad tried to talk to him to find out where Glenn was. For now, it wasn't going very well. The kid wouldn't tell us anything.

"Those men you were with, we need to know where they went." Dad asked

"I ain't telling you nothing." This guy was stubborn. He looked around my age maybe a little younger.

"Jesus, man. What the hell happened back there?" T-Dog asked Daryl ignoring the kid sitting on the ground.

"I told you, this little turd and his douche bag friends came out of nowhere and jumped us." He grumbled

"You're the one who jumped me, puto, screaming about trying to find his brother like it's my damn fault." The guy defended pointing his finger at Daryl.

"They took Glenn. Could have taken Merle too." The guy started laughing and we all gave him a look like he was insane

"Merle? What kind of name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle." This wasn't something he should've said. Daryl snapped and took a few quick step closer to the guy before trying to kick him in the face and he could have. His foot was a few inches away from the guy's face but my dad was holding Daryl back for what felt like the hundredth time since they had met. So Daryl took the bag and got Merle's hand out of it.

"Daryl don't…" I tried before he cut me off.

"Want to see what happened to the last guy who pissed me off?" he said throwing the hand at him. The guy jerked back, freaked out by the hand while we just stood there. Daryl got closer and crouched in front of him.

"I'll start with the feet this time" he said pulling his knife out. I decided to intervene because it probably wouldn't have ended well. I put my hand on Daryl's shoulder, giving him a pointed look and crouched in front of the kid.

"The men you were with took our friend. All we want to do is talk to them, see if we can work something out." I said gently with a small smile. The guy was panting but nodded. He then proceeded to tell us where his hideout was and we followed him there, determined to get Glenn back.

We reached the place and hid behind a wall making sure we knew what we had to do before going in.

"You sure you're up for this?" my dad asked T-Dog to which he nodded.

"One wrong move, you get an arrow in the ass. Just so you know." Daryl told the kid and I rolled my eyes at his threat. The kid seemed a bit harmless to me. An annoying attitude, sure. But he wasn't dangerous.

"G's gonna take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours. Just so you know." He answered.

"G?" I asked

"Guillermo. He's the man here."

"Okay then. Let's go see Guillermo." Dad sighed before he stepped forward in plain view waiting for the door to open. When they did, another Hispanic guy got out, which I assumed was Guillermo.

"You okay little man?" he asked

"They're gonna cut my feet."

"Cops do that?" he asked my dad incredulously

"Not him. This redneck puto here. He cut off some dude's hand, man. He showed it to me." He gestured to Daryl.

"Shut up" said man answered and gripped him tighter.

One of the guys from earlier pointed a gun at Daryl. It was the one that Daryl shot.

"Hey, that's that Vato right there, homes. He shot me in the ass with an arrow. What's up, homes, huh?"

"Chill, ese, chill. Chill. This true? He wants Miguelito's feet? That's pretty sick, man." Guillermo said.

"We were hoping more for a calm discussion." My dad tried.

"That hillbilly jumps Felipe's little cousin, beats on him, threatens to cut off his feet, Felipe gets an arrow in the ass and you want a calm discussion?" Guillermo pointed at Daryl "You fascinate me."

"Heat of the moment. Mistakes were made on both sides." Diplomacy wasn't really my dad's strong suit. I looked around and I felt like this could go wrong.

"Who's that dude to you anyway? You don't look related."

"He's a friend. I'm sure you know what that is" I said sarcasm dripping from my voice.

"You got my brother in there?" Daryl asked.

"Sorry, we're fresh out of white boys. But I've got Asian. You interested?"

"I have one of yours, you have one of mine. Sounds like an even trade." My dad tried.

"Don't sound even to me."

"G. Come on, man." The guy, Miguel as it turns out, pleaded.

"My people got attacked. Where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point, where's my bag of guns?"

"Guns?"

"The bag Miguel saw in the street. The bag Felipe and Jorge were going back to get. That bag of guns."

"You're mistaken." He said and Guillermo raised an eyebrow. "About it being yours. It's my bag of guns."

"The bag was in the street. Anybody could come around and say it was theirs. I'm supposed to take your word? What's to stop my people from unloading on you right here and now and I take what's mine?"

"You could do that…" I trailed with a smirk on my face "Or not" I pointed at the roof where T-Dog was, a sniper in hand, ready to shoot Guillermo. He took a step back and called out to his friends. Two guys appeared on the roof holding Glenn who had a bag on his head.

"I see two options. You come back with Miguel and my bag of guns, everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, we'll see which side spills more blood." He said. And with that he went back inside leaving us in front of the closed door again.

"Let's go" my dad said and we followed him back to the building.

Back inside, my dad unzipped the bag and started to divide the guns. We stood behind him, I was watching Miguel and from the corner of my eye I could see Daryl biting on his nail on his finger before he spoke up.

"Them guns are worth more than gold. Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table. You're gonna give that up for that kid?" he asked.

"If I knew we'd get Glenn back, I might agree. But you think that Vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?" T-Dog agreed.

"You calling G a liar?" Miguel said from behind me.

"Are you a part of this? You want to hold onto your teeth?" Daryl said stepping closer to him. I tried to stay in the middle of them but Daryl got around me and slapped him. I got in front of him again before he could slap a second time. I looked at him in the eyes and made sure he understood that I didn't want him to hit him again. We were standing there face to face when T-Dog spoke up.

"Question is, do you trust that man's word?"

"No" Daryl said turning around to look at my dad "question is what are you willing to bet on it? Could be more than them guns. Could be your life. Glenn worth that to you?"

"What life I have I owe to him. I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank. He could have walked away, but he didn't. Neither will I."

"So you're gonna hand the guns over?"

"I didn't say that. There's nothing keeping you three here. You should get out, head back to camp."

"No way" I said "What you want me to tell mom that we lost you again? I'm not leaving"

"Come on, this is nuts. Just do like G says." Miguel tried to plead with us. We looked at each other and made sure we had a plan. Once it was clear, we went back to the hideout.

We lead Miguel with his hand behind his back. The door opened and we went inside. I held my gun tightly in my hand, my knife on my belt where I could reach it.

"I see my guns but they're not all in the bag." Guillermo noted.

"That's because they're not yours. I thought I mentioned that." Dad said

"Let's just shoot these fools right now, ese. All right? Unload on their asses, ese." Guillermo's right hand man said.

"I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation." Guillermo said with a smile

"No, I'm pretty clear." My dad said before cutting Miguel free. Guillermo's smile fell.

"I'm gonna chop up your boy. I'm gonna feed him to my dogs. They're the evilest, nastiest man-eating bitches you ever saw. I picked them up from Satan at a yard sale. I told you how it has to be. Are you woefully deaf?"

"No, my hearing's fine. You said come locked and loaded" and with that we all raised our guns and aimed at the guys. Suddenly, an old woman called out for 'Felipe'

"Abuela" Felipe said "Go back with the others…. Now"

"Get that old lady out of my line of fire" Daryl threatened and aimed at the lady. I looked at him incredulously and pushed his crossbow to the side a bit. He looked at me and I shook my head.

"Abuela, listen to your mijo, okay? This is the not the place for you right now." Guillermo said.

"Mr. Gilbert is having trouble breathing. He needs his asthma stuff. Carlitos didn't find it. He needs his medicine."

"Felipe, go take care of it, okay? And take your grandmother with you."

"¡Abuela! Ven conmigo por favor." He said but the lady looked at us.

"Who are those people?"

"Por favor, ven conmigo."

"Don't you take him. Felipe's a good boy. He has his trouble but he pulls himself together. We need him here." She said but she was struggling with her words. I guessed she didn't talk English often.

"No estamos aquí para llevar a su nieto" I said ( _We are not here to take your grandson_ ) putting my gun away and walking in front to look at her

"Qué es lo que él desea para?" she then asked ( _What do you want him for_ )

"Que nos está ayudando à encontrar à una persona desaparecida" I said "Un niño llamado Glenn?" ( _He's helping us find a missing person. A boy named Glenn_ ) She nodded.

"The Asian boy? He's with Mr. Gilbert. Come. Come, I'll show you." She said before taking my hand and taking me to a room, the rest following us.

"Let them pass" Guillermo said and the Vatos did as they were told to. We walked to a nursing home. We passed many rooms where elderly people were being taken care of. I looked behind to see a surprised look on all three men's faces. Felipe walked faster and stopped to talk to the lady.

"Abuela, please take me to him" She nodded and stopped holding my hand before walking to the end of the hall where there was a big room. There, a man was on a chair having difficulty breathing and people were surrounding him, including Glenn. Felipe soothed the man and helped him get his breathing back to normal.

"What the hell is that?" my dad asked.

"An asthma attack" Glenn answered "Poor man couldn't breathe normally"

"We thought you were being eaten by dogs, man" T-Dog said. I looked around and saw the Chihuahuas and snorted. I felt relieved that Glenn was okay.

"Oh yeah, definitely the scariest dogs I've seen" I said before crouching and petting one. My dad and T-Dog went to talk to Guillermo and I made my way to Daryl who was standing awkwardly to the side.

"You okay?" I asked. He just shrugged. I took his hand in mine and intertwined our fingers before getting on my tip toes and kissing his cheek. He just looked at me and I gave him a smile which he returned. We heard someone clear his throat and looked to the side to see my dad watching us.

"Let's go" he said. I sighed and gave Daryl another smile before following my dad outside.

"Admit it" Glenn said "You only came back to Atlanta for the hat"

"Don't tell anyone" dad joked back.

"You gave them half our guns and ammo" Daryl pointed "For what? Bunch of old farts who are gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long you think they got?"

"How long do any of us?" dad answered.

We came to a stop where the van was supposed to be. It was gone.

"Oh my God." I said

"Where the hell's our van?"

"We left it right there. Who would take it?" Glenn asked

"Merle."

"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp." Daryl said. I sighed

"Then we get back as fast as we can." I said.

It was dusk when we got near the camp. Glenn and T-Dog were in the front talking, Daryl in the middle and my dad and I were at the back talking.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked me.

"You're gonna do it anyway right?" I sighed.

"How come Daryl listens to you? And what was that back in Atlanta?"

"That's two questions" I stated. He just looked at me.

"Right…. Well Daryl and I are close…" I trailed "Kind of a thing. I mean…."

"What?" He asked "And mom's okay with that?"

"I don't know and honestly I don't care. I mean come on dad you were gone, the dead started to come back to life and well, I don't know we had some kind of connection. It's nothing you gotta worry about."

"He's way too old for you" I shrugged "There's no way I'm gonna change your mind am I?"

"You got nothing that could make me crack" I smirked and he sighed.

"Right…. Well he better not hurt you alright? You're still my baby girl"

"Not a baby, dad" I laughed and he put his arm around my shoulder

"And it doesn't mean I'm okay with it"

I was about to answer when we heard screaming coming from the camp. We looked at each other before running as fast as we could. When we got there, it looked terrible. Walkers everywhere and our people were trying to fight them off. I took my gun and started aiming at them, killing them. Dad shot at one that was coming towards Carl and mom and ran to help them while I focused on Carol who was trying to protect her daughter. I made my way toward them and stood in front of Carol, killing the walkers who tried to attack her.

"Go, run and stay on the roof of the RV. I'll cover you. GO!" I told them and watched as they made it. I turned around and was met by the face of a walker who was close to me and before I could do anything, an arrow went through the walkers head. Daryl came towards me.

"You okay?" he asked and I nodded. Looking around, I saw that all of the walkers were dead. My mom and Carl saw me and ran to hug me.

"My baby you're okay" mom said in my hair while Carl hugged my legs. She then held me at arm's length and looked me over

"I'm fine mom" I sighed. We then heard Andrea screaming.

"Amy! Amy! No! Oh my god Amy no!" she held her sister's lifeless body in her arms.

That night, Daryl was on watch and sat atop of the RV. I couldn't sleep. I got out and made my way to the roof and sat next to Daryl.

"You should sleep" he said

"I can't. Too many things in my head right now" I sighed "I thought I'd keep you company"

We sat in silence for a while. Everything was quiet.

"It feels so unreal" I said

"What?"

"Everything? I mean I don't know, a few hours ago, we could've all just died and now it's all just so…. Peaceful" he shrugged.

"Thank you by the way. You saved me. Again" I smiled and he looked at me.

"It's alright. Wasn't gonna let you get hurt" I just kept on staring at him and I got lost in his eyes. Without realizing, we both leaned in and our lips met in the middle. It was sweet but it still managed to make butterflies erupt in my stomach. Even though it wasn't our first kiss, it still felt great. When we parted, I kept our faces inches from one another and just smiled. I laid my head on Daryl shoulder and went out like a light.

 _A/N: Hi ! Two more days until season 7 ! Who's excited ? I thought I'd post a cute moment in this chapter... Next one will be how they met. So we'll have a little tbt. Please follow, review. Love you xx_


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